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“I don’t want to be saved by some knight in shining armor. I’d like to be the one in the armor, and I’d like to be the one doing the saving.”

Release Date: July 7th, 2020

Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings, LGBT

Publisher: Bloomsbury YA

Pages: 400

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Synopsis

Cinderella is Dead is a YA fantasy retelling that takes place in a kingdom where its citizens are bound to Cinderella’s story. Each year, a royal ball is held for teens of age to be chosen by a suitor. But Sophia doesn’t want a Prince Charming – she would rather marry her best friend Erin. After escaping the ball, she finds herself in Cinderella’s mausoleum – and meets one of Cinderella’s own descendants. Together, Sophia and Constance vow to bring down the king and everything that he stands for.

Review

Cinderella is Dead brings a very interesting set of twists to the original story of Cinderella. It features a world where young girls are required to study Cinderella’s stories in preparation to be matched at the yearly royal ball. But this fairytale-like kingdom is not what it seems; the story creates a power imbalance where many of the male suitors have excessive control over their lives. Additionally, the standards of abiding by the story require its citizens’ identities to neatly fit into the boxes the kingdom describes, which we know are not feasible for most. 

With the conflicts of this book comes a very feminist story, complete with messages that its readers need to hear. This book is a prime example of what I would love to see more of in young adult fiction; books that show readers their worth and empower them to stand up for what they believe is right. In the author’s acknowledgments she talks about wanting to have a story that addresses fairytales that don’t look like the reader, or how these stories change our worldview. And while I think some of these messages were very blunt in delivery, that’s completely okay – I think it’s something that young readers need to hear. 

There are other, less subtle parts of Cinderella is Dead that further contribute to the themes of control and how things are not always how they seem. Towards the beginning, there are several mentions of economic burdens that much of the kingdom is beginning to face. At the same time, dressing the girls for the ball is a massive financial endeavor – and those that do not fit that elegant, expensive criteria are subject to extreme punishment. Things like these seem to be a matter of the times in the beginning, but they take on a different meaning later on in the book.

Despite some of the details in this book, I found the worldbuilding to be lackluster at times. I consider the fairytale setting for Cinderella is Dead to be almost dystopian in its execution, and for that I was expecting the society created to be at least a little more realistic in terms of the society that they’ve created. When you are raised in a society like this it does tend to feel like the norm, and there are also others who have tried to create uprising and have seen the faults of the society in the past. But with how simplistic the world is here part of me is surprised that it took this long for a character to get this far. Regardless, I really can’t fault the book too much for this because the story carries on wonderfully despite this, and the message is the most important part of this story.

There were some parts of this story that felt predictable, but there were also twists that I wasn’t expecting. I love the way that the author unravels Cinderella’s story in such a way that tells a completely different story than what we know of. It’s a clever play on writing a retelling where it’s analyzing how many different ways a story could be told – and how stories can be twisted to suit different narratives.

Overall, I really enjoyed Cinderella is Dead. This story is a great example of what I’d love to see more in young adult fiction, and how books like these can empower their own readers. I loved the feminist twist on this tale and I hope to see more stories like these getting published in the near future.